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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Simon McCarthy

Train derailed at Kooragang causes traffic chaos as emergency crews respond

A train derailed a Kooragang has closed Cormorant Road near Stockton Bridge. Diversions are in place. Picture: Marina Neil
A train derailed a Kooragang has closed Cormorant Road near Stockton Bridge. Diversions are in place. Picture: Marina Neil
A train derailed a Kooragang has closed Cormorant Road near Stockton Bridge. Diversions are in place. Picture: Marina Neil
A train derailed a Kooragang has closed Cormorant Road near Stockton Bridge. Diversions are in place. Picture: Marina Neil
A train derailed a Kooragang has closed Cormorant Road near Stockton Bridge. Diversions are in place. Picture: Marina Neil
A train derailed a Kooragang has closed Cormorant Road near Stockton Bridge. Diversions are in place. Picture: Marina Neil
A train derailed a Kooragang has closed Cormorant Road near Stockton Bridge. Diversions are in place. Picture: Live Traffic NSW
A train derailed a Kooragang has closed Cormorant Road near Stockton Bridge. Diversions are in place. Picture: Live Traffic NSW

Cormorant Road on Kooragang island was closed in both directions for four hours on Friday afternoon after a grain train was partially derailed crossing Cormorant Road.

The derailment happened at about 1.30pm and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) confirmed the tracks had been cleared by 5.20pm.

There were no reports of injury as Newcastle Police and emergency services worked to divert traffic between Raven Street and Egret Street on Kooragang Island and return the trains cars to the tracks.

Eastbound drivers were diverted via Tomago and Cabbage Tree roads, and westbound traffic was sent via Medowie and Richardson roads around the scene.

A crane was called in late Friday afternoon to assist in lifting cars which appeared to have left the tracks at a bend where the rail lines intersected with the roadway, back into place.

A spokesperson for ARTC, which manages the Hunter rail-freight network, said the derailed train was a Pacific National grain train.

The spokesperson said the second car of the train, which was understood to have been full after leaving the grain terminals in the Port of Newcastle, had come off the tracks on the line.

A number of occasionally used rail lines cross Cormorant Road - which links Tourle Street, Mayfield, to the Stockton Bridge.

The grain train was on a line about 100 metres on the Mayfield side of the roundabout where the main four-lane road swings north to become Teal Street, heading over the Stockton Bridge.

No reason for the derailment was available last night but investigations will continue.

HERE IT IS: Overhead imagery showing the location of the siding crossing Cormorant Road, where the train derailed.
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